Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: White and Wood Beautify a Traditional Home
A Spanish-style treasure in California gets a 21st-century update
The family’s dog, Pipa, welcomes visitors to the home. The front entry was revitalized with new exterior paint, lighting and an old-world solid mahogany front door with stained glass details. The white and wood motif continues inside the house. The stair tread is a stained white oak; the risers feature a white hexagonal tile from Heath Ceramics. The new French doors, off to the right, allow the family to move easily from the kitchen to the patio.
After you enter the foyer, the kitchen is to the right, and the living room is to the left. “The living room set the stage for the whole house,” Popp says. The floor-to-ceiling windows are original to the house (all others were replaced). The white walls and dark wood window trim and beams are carried inside from the exterior. The handmade artisan light fixture is both modern and traditional: Its steel armature has a bronze finish and holds the light cylinders. The fireplace and its mosaic were existing; the colors are repeated throughout the house.
White oak floors were used throughout the house. An archway provides a transition into the kitchen, where floating cabinetry is framed with white varnished wood. “We wanted to play off traditional wood with something more modern, so the cabinetry floats and resembles a stand-alone piece of furniture,” Popp says.
“The clients wanted an open kitchen with open shelving, as closed upper cabinets can feel too heavy or even ominous,” Popp says. “They can display their kitchen collections on the open shelves, which they love to do.” The mahogany cabinets are framed in white, while the island is topped with calacatta marble. The Aga stove, Popp says, “is a timeless piece of engineering.” The light fixture is from Established & Sons and includes pops of black also found in the faucets. The hexagonal Heath tile reappears on the wall behind the stove.
Two dining nooks are adjacent to the kitchen. The couple used their existing dining table and chairs for the more formal dining area, which segues into a casual dining nook with curved built-in upholstered seating. “This hybrid idea gives the family extra space for family gatherings,” Popp says. “Her mom is Italian, lives around the corner and comes over and cooks a lot. Her family also owns restaurants in Sacramento and come over often. So while the adults are dining around the formal table, the kids can gather together in the nook.” The chandelier in the dining room is from Roll & Hill. They brought the fixture in the nook from their other home.
The upstairs landing has several areas for reading or hanging out. Floating wood shelves store a collection of books.
Popp made the master bedroom smaller to add square footage to the master bath and create additional closet space.
In the master bath, the wood and white are the reverse from the cabinetry downstairs. Here, the cabinets are white with wood trim. The sink fixtures and sconce lights are built into the large vanity mirror.
The enlarged master bathroom now has room for a separate tub and walk-in shower. Popp carried the arches upstairs to give the house’s architecture a sense of continuity.
Built-in bunk beds with desks and storage underneath were designed for the twins. “It’s a very tailored look that repeats the white cabinetry with wood trim,” Popp says.
Back downstairs, the informal dining nook has plentiful electrical outlets for doing homework or recharging devices. Popp redid this back portion of the house, which had been added in the 1980s, “to capture the spirit of the house but make it livable for a family in the 21st century and with a palette clean enough to showcase their modern furnishings and art.”
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Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Two doctors and their three daughters (two of whom are twins)
Location: Sacramento, California
Size: 4,000 square feet (372 square meters)
Designer: Curtis Popp and Dustin Littrell, Popp Littrell Architecture + Interiors
When one of the homeowners was offered a new position in Sacramento, the family moved from their modern house in Boulder, Colorado, to this Spanish-Mediterranean-style home in a leafy neighborhood. They loved the traditional details and architecture of the house but wanted to bring it up to 21st-century living standards. They also wanted to use much of the modern furniture they already owned. Designer Curtis Popp guided them through the transition with a nearly whole-house remodel that captures and retains the home’s traditional spirit.